Which Pier Giorgio DVD or book is the best?

I am often asked which book or DVD I would recommend. Just today, I emailed a reply to a seminarian with this very question but his server would not accept the email. (As an aside, many of you do not receive the occasional emails from FrassatiUSA because your servers block our domain.)

In any case, the seminarian's question is one I receive often, so it seemed worthy blog material. Let's start with the DVDs. There are only a few programs that I am aware of. A short children's version is available through EWTN in the "My Catholic Family" series. This DVD has several inaccuracies in it when it comes to Pier Giorgio. So, it may be a good starting point for introducing him to your small children but it needs some fact clarification.

The DVDs available on the FrassatiUSA website are all from appearances on EWTN. The earliest one is from a June 2008 episode of "Life on the Rock." The first 15 minutes or so is about other material. The remaining time includes a good discussion about Pier Giorgio.

Last year, Pier Giorgio's niece Wanda Gawronska came to the U.S. to join me for a mini-series on Pier Giorgio. That series is titled "Sanctity Within Reach" and is packed with good info about Pier Giorgio from the person who is the most knowledgeable person alive. I suggest watching it with subtitles.

Wanda and I also appeared together on "EWTN Live" with Fr. Mitch Pacwa in June 2009. That program was lively and informative and includes about a 20-minute Q&A session following the general discussion. I will leave the question of which DVD is the best up to those of you who have seen them. Feel free to post your honest assessment as comments to this blog.

I am also often asked if there is a Pier Giorgio movie available. Some of you have even found the clips on YouTube of an Italian movie. Click here to view one of the several clips posted. In this brief scene, Pier Giorgio recites (in Italian) the quote many people most associate with him: "... to live without a Faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for the Truth, is not living but existing. We must never exist but live..."

The movie this clip comes from is called, "Se Non Avessi L'Amore" and was produced in Italy by RAI Television following the beatification of Pier Giorgio. It aired on Italian television and is not available for purchase. (I have a personal copy that was taped when it aired back in 1991 but am not able to reproduce it.) The film does not have English subtitles, so you need to understand Italian to follow the story. Many people have asked if subtitles could be added and the movie aired in the U.S. If anybody out there has the power, knowledge, influence, connections, time, etc., to make that happen, go for it!

People have also asked why we don't film a new movie about Pier Giorgio. In a word: money! That would be quite an expensive undertaking. I would love to see it happen, of course, along with many other efforts that we have on the backburner but resources are not there for many projects. In any case, I hope this brings you up to date on the DVD situation. Next time, I will give you my two centesimi on the books! Verso l'alto!